Mark lifts his head as I enter the room.
He looks like shit, like hell came to claim him and he was dragged through the fire several times. He looks like that, and he hasn’t really taken a beating from me.
I went easy on him last night but kicked his ass mainly for getting his daughter dragged in and allowing her to make such a swap.
He’s chained to the wall, unable to move around. The guys outside on watch told me he started having the shakes late in the night, then begged for a drink. Not water. The fucker wanted a beer and pleaded with them to grab one from upstairs. He pissed himself when he didn’t get it.
I pull up a chair and sit on it backwards. I’m still deciding what to do with him. Ava made the trade. The thing to do would be to let him go, but that’s not how this will work. There are several reasons why I can’t just do that, and it wouldn’t be me breaking my end of the unwritten contract.
“Please, tell me she’s okay. My Ava…” Mark pleas, and a tear streams from his eyes, dark and puffy with circles that look like smoke spreading around his skin.
“She’s okay,” I answer, sounding calmer than I feel.
“Please don’t hurt her, Vincent, I beg you, please don’t hurt her. She’s had… a rough life.”
I narrow my eyes. I know his son died a few years back, and that was a terrible time because it was gang related and the killer was never found. What I didn’t know was that Mark had turned to the dark side and was in so deep into trouble. That rough life he’s talking about could only have come as a result of something he did. Just like now.
“What are you going to do with her?” he asks.
“I’m not going to discuss that with you,” I answer. He knows why. The fact that more tears stream down his cheeks confirms he knows exactly what I’ll be doing with his daughter. His worry should be more focused on what I’m going to do to him.
“You accepted her offer?” Unspoken pain comes alive in his eyes.
“I did.”
“Vincent… she’s a bright young woman with a future ahead of her. She’s in love with her writing. Please, don’t bring her into the darkness of our world. I’ve tried my best to keep her out of the underground. I never meant for this to happen.”
“We never mean for most things to happen, but they do.”
“Please, don’t stop her from living her dreams,” he begs.
It’s strikes me as strange that he would say this to me when he nearly ruined everything all by himself. “Mark, you owe me over two million dollars you used to gamble and pay for prostitutes younger than your girl to fuck you. Don’t dictate shit to me. Be grateful I haven’t rammed your head into the wall and fucked you up so bad you have to piss backwards.” I bare my teeth, and he shudders, his red eyes bulging.
He’s never heard me talk like that. Chances are he would have had better sense if he had.
“Vincent, I’m really sorry. I really am.”
I hold up my hand and shake my head. I don’t want to hear him apologize again. I heard it practically all of last night. Now, it’s time for action.
What I’m about to tell him won’t be enough. Not by a long shot, and I already know I’m going to have to take a hit with the stress of it. I figured it this way, I’m still fucked and everything’s a mess whether he’s alive or dead. The death would be punishment. That’s all it would be and wouldn’t help me fix the shit one way or the other.
That’s what I’m telling myself to make it… tolerable.
“Ava will stay with me, and you… you will sort yourself out in whatever way you need to, so you can tell me all that you did.” It really doesn’t feel like it’s enough, absolutely unfair in comparison to the repercussions of his actions. I should beat the fuck out of him and mess him up more than I did. The truth is, I can’t.
It’s her again. I look at him and see her face. She’s payment, and I accepted, but even before I accepted, the beauty calmed the beast inside me.
“You will give me that chance?” His voice quivers.
I sneer at him. “Motherfucker…. Don’t make the mistake of thinking I’m freeing you. I’m not fucking doing that, and definitely not until I know all the damage and shit you’ve done.”
“I …I don’t remember anything much, and what I can remember is stuff you already know.”
“I’m sure you can shed more light than that,” I demand. “You will tell me everything. I want to know what happened and what you got me mixed up in. I can’t afford to waste any time. Who else did you hang out with?”
“Omar and a few of his associates. I made deals to follow through on the securities.”
“On Giordanos Inc.?” I seethe as he nods.
“And… the Odyssey hotels.” I tense when he says that. Fuck.
Why do I get the impression that this fucker is going to tell me more that’s going to make me want to kill him right the hell now? The Odyssey hotels are a venture I entered with Salvatore and Gabe. We own a chain of hotels on five islands in the Caribbean that cater to adult fantasies. They’re like the sex club set in paradise.
“What about the hotels?”
The fear that fills his eyes makes my blood boil. What more is he going to tell me?
“I was siphoning money to an offshore account. There’s a guy who wanted to set up some business in Antigua.”
I bite down hard on my back teeth. “You fucker.” I glare at him, and then it occurs to me he did all this without me knowing. He has access to the systems, but no one knew what was going on until he slipped up.
Then we couldn’t find him for three days. That’s virtually impossible, and not with a man like this.
Or maybe it’s me who’s wrong again. There I was thinking of him as the simpleton. Maybe it’s me who’s underestimating him. What simpleton can do all that he’s done to a guy like me?
He looks a pathetic mess now, but I can’t help but wonder if there’s either more to Mark than I know or if someone was helping him to steal and fuck me over.
I have to factor in every possibility and leave no stone unturned.
“I wasn’t thinking straight. He offered me a discount on some drugs if I could set something up for him in Antigua. Vincent, I… don’t remember anything else. I can’t.” He lowers his head and shakes it. “I need to go to the clinic, Vincent,” he states, and his cheeks flush with shame. “I’m not refusing cooperation, but I can’t see for shit. I’m addicted to all manner of fucking shit, and no matter what I take, I can’t forget.” He lifts his hands against the clink of the chains, and they tremble.
The fucker strikes a nerve inside me. “Forget?”
“The loss… the loss. Lost her, and them to death.” He’s not looking at me. He said her.
I know he’s not married. I’m assuming though there must have been a woman in the picture.
He laughs and lifts his head. “I’m just a dead man walking without a soul, waiting for the fucking devil to take me. Drag me down to hell and put me out of my misery.” He’s tripping. I can see it. The shaking in his body and the tremor is voice is more than fear. It’s the shit he’s high on.
“What did you take before we got to you?” I ask, trying to calm down.
“A mixture of coke and ecstasy. I had some beer. It balances the effect. Not by much though. I need to go back to the clinic, and then I can help. Ava wanted me to go to the clinic. Please let me go, Vincent. It’s the least I can do.”
“I’ll make the arrangements.”
“Thank you.”
“I’m not doing it for you.” I give him a hard stare and he flinches.
Shaking my head I leave. There’s nothing more I can do here.
***
Today is just as long as I knew it would be.
I get back home at eight after taking care of a few things back at Giordanos Inc.
It’s dinner time. Ava is supposed to be joining me. I make my way into the dining room, where I find Marguerite at the table with Timothy.
When Marguerite sees me, she sighs. I’m interested to hear how the rest of the day went after I left.
My arrival has signaled the chefs to bring the food out from the kitchen. They’ve made roast beef and honey roasted vegetables at my request. As always, it looks amazing and smells even better. They set a plate for me and another for Ava.
“How is she?” I ask Marguerite when the chefs leave.
“She’s not eating, Vinny. Other than the cookies and hot chocolate I gave her this morning, she hasn’t eaten anything. I gave her a robe and a T-shirt to change into so she could shower. Lydia will be here later with some more clothes. It’s… been weird, Vinny.” She presses her lips together in disdain Timothy reaches for me, and I take him. It’s his bedtime, so I don’t want to take up too much time with him.
“I told her you wanted to see her here at eight,” Marguerite adds.
“I’ll deal with her when she comes down.”
As if on cue, Ava walks into the room. She’s wearing a fluffy white robe, and her face is bare of makeup. Without the streaks of mascara on her face and her hair ruffled, her true beauty is on display.
Her eyes go straight to Timothy. Surprise settles on her pretty face as she watches me holding him. Maybe it’s how I look when I’m with my son.
Timothy gives her a wide toothy grin and reaches out to her gurgling and giggling. His angelic innocence breaks down the barrier of hardness on her face, which breaks out into an open smile that makes her eyes twinkle.
I haven’t seen a smile on her face before, so it’s something I note. I’m vigilant though, as always with my kid, so when she goes to reach for him, I move him to Marguerite so she can take him.
“Can you take him to bed?” I tell her, and she nods.
It may be weird, but I don’t allow random women to touch him or bond with him. Nobody who isn’t family or friends. I don’t usually have women here in the house he can see, so I don’t want him with her.
Marguerite takes him away and closes the door behind her.
I return my gaze back to Ava, who’s looking at me with caution.
“I didn’t know you had a son,” she states.
“Because I never told you.”
She hardens her gaze on me. “I wasn’t going to hurt him.”
“You don’t have to worry about him while you’re here.” I’m trying to be firm and assert control. I have a few things to tell her she won’t like. “Sit.”
She sits at the place that was set for her, which is just over from me, and looks like she’s readying herself not to eat.
“I heard you didn’t eat anything today. Why?” Since I’m starving, I start on my food.
“Not hungry,” she answers stiffly, and I ball my fist that’s holding the knife. She cuts me a sharp glance, eyeing up the knife.
“Marguerite says you had cookies.”
“I did.”
“That all you eat in the days?”
“I’m here for sex. What does it matter if I eat or not?”
Oh… I see. Looks like it’s just hit her now—the situation. I straighten up and smile at her much to her displeasure.
“You will not stay here and starve. When I fuck you, I need you to be alert and not perishing on me for lack of food.” She doesn’t like that answer one damn bit. I don’t care. These people, her, she needs to know I’m doing them a favor.
“Where is my father? Did you let him go?”
Maybe it’s a mixture of fear and anger talking, but she’s gotten ballsy.
“No, I didn’t let him go.”
She visibly shudders and winces. “I thought you were going to let him go.”
“Ava, your offer stopped me from killing his ass. I’m not letting him out on the street to do more damage.”
“What are you going to do with him?”
“I haven’t decided yet. All you need to know right now is he’s alive.” I intensify my gaze on her, letting her know to cut the questions about her father.
She draws in a slow breath. “You never answered my question earlier. How long will I be here? I have a life. I work. I have friends. People who will be asking for me. I have an apartment I pay rent on. Fuck… I don’t even own my own car. It’s on finance, and it’s still at the docks.” Her voice is shaky.
“All those things will be taken care of while you are here.”
“What do you mean, taken care of?”
“It fucking means exactly as it sounds. I’ll take care of it.” I’m tired and fed up. She’s in her right to be pissed, but I can’t deal with it tonight.
“So, you’re just going to keep me here and pay everything. There are some things that money can’t take care of. I’m working, and I was working toward a promotion that would change my life. I can go to work and come back here.”
My hands still, and I intensify my glare on her.
This broad actually thinks she can tell me what to do? And not just that, seems like she thinks she can dictate the terms of this arrangement too, like I’m some kind of schmuck. Fucking fuck that. I have news for her fine ass.
“No. You will not do that,” I inform her. “You are allowed in this room, the kitchen, the library, and your room. Your room has an en-suite shower. The library has books, the kitchen food. It’s enough. You’ll have dinner with me most evenings and I’ll send for you when I’m ready to fuck you. There, that sounds good to me.”
Her face is classically horrified. No—scratch that. It’s the perfect illustration of mortified. She won’t say anything though because a deal’s a deal. Good girl. At least she knows that part.
I decide to continue reeling off the terms. “I will have one of my guys accompany you outside on the grounds, where you can take a walk and get some fresh air. That is what you will do while you’re here.”
“Like an animal,” she fumes. “Walk me like a dog?”
“Ava, if you fuck with me, I’ll put you in a cage like a fucking animal.”
She stands up straightaway, almost knocking over the chair. She shakes her head at me.
“You’d really do that to a person! A cage?”
I choose to ignore her question. “You’re going to the doctors in the morning,” I state. She’s pushing me, but fuck, if she wasn’t enraged before, she’s that now.
“The doctors?”
“For birth control.”
“I’m already on birth control.”
“He’ll also be making sure you’re clean.”
She gives me an incredulous glare. “I’m clean. I’m not some slut.”
“I don’t know that.”
Her eyes blaze. “You asshole. How dare you?”
That’s it. I can’t deal with her tonight.
I get up in one motion and march over to her. Panic washes over her pretty face, and she backs away.
I go for her, walking her right into the wall like earlier. The difference between now and then is, earlier, I was aroused and interested. Now, I’m aroused and pissed.
I ball a fist and land a punch right into the space by her elbow. She flinches but stares at me head on.
“How dare I? Really?” I fume.
“You don’t know me. You can’t just do this. You can’t just keep me locked away. How long are you going to keep me here?” she challenges, and I get up in her face.
“Two million dollars!” I shout. It’s a release of frustration. “Two fucking million dollars. How long do you think you should stay?” Better to pose the question like that to her so she can get the picture of what we’re dealing with.
I lower my head, closer, and bare my teeth. “How long, Ava? What do you think is reasonable?” There’s no good answer. That’s why she can’t give me one. There’s no answer that works for either of us.
Her lips part. Her plump, full lips part, and my gaze drops to them along with the slight rise and fall of her chest. There’s a hint of her cleavage peeking through the robe, and damn it, when my gaze flicks back up to hers, I see that distinct look of fear and want. It’s there again, and I’m not mistaken. The fear just enhances the want. It enhances my want for her too.
I don’t know what it is about this woman that gets to me. I’ve known her for less than twenty-four hours, and this… thing, whatever it is, chemistry, attraction, or madness has me wanting her.
I feel it deeper the longer I stay close to her. It’s so strong she looks away from me, but I catch her face and focus her stare back on me.
Fuck this frustration. What am I waiting for?
I hold her face with one hand and with the other, I undo the belt to the robe. I look down at her as the cloth falls open, revealing her breasts. She’s wearing panties. That’s all.
Her breath hitches when I rub my fingers over her mound. I move the lace back from her panties then slip my fingers into her pussy.
My cock hardens straightaway when I feel how wet she is for me.
“You’re wet,” I point out with a devilish grin, and she tries to look away, ashamed. “Your body betrays you again, Bellezza. You’re trying to leave, when it really looks like you want to stay.”
“You can’t keep me here forever.”
I can’t. I know I can’t, but I can’t give her an answer either. I haven’t cooled off enough from the shit her father put me through to give her a sufficient answer. The truth is, she fascinates me.
She seems to be the first woman in a long time whom I’ve felt that spark of need for, and I crave it.
I add another finger to her pussy and start pumping harder, faster, and she does her best to look like she’s not enjoying it. She fails after a few seconds and bites down hard on her lip to hold in a moan. I release her face, and she continues to hold the pleasure in, so I pump harder, faster, and thanks to the few minutes I got up close and personal with her earlier, I learned a thing or two about what makes her give in to her inner desires.
So, when I lower my mouth to suck her tits, I know she’ll cave, and she does.
Her tits already look ripe and puckered, begging to be sucked. By the time I taste her nipples, they pebble hard like diamonds.
I move from one to the other, sucking hard, encouraged by her moans of pleasure, as I continue to finger-fuck her until I feel her clit harden up too. But fuck… it’s the simplest of things that drives me over the edge.
It’s her hand.
Her delicate hand smooths up my shoulder, soft and searching, caressing. Her long, elegant fingers run over my shoulders and flutter over to my neck, where she continues to stroke the skin there. I pause my suckle to look at her.
She’s panting and aroused. Lost in need and want for me, completely at my mercy. It’s that what makes me greedy.
It’s that what makes me crave more, and I haven’t truly had her yet.
I catch her face once more, and she comes to my lips like an obedient servant.
I kiss her, and she kisses me back with reckless abandon, giving herself to me. Our tongues tangle and twist, and I taste her.
The taste seals everything else. I pull away from her lips and gaze down at her lust-filled eyes.
“I’m clean… we’re doing this now,” I practically growl, ripping the robe from her. I want her body on show while I fuck her. “You hear me?” I ask because she looks numb.
“Yes,” she answers, and I start undoing my pants.